Hyundai E&C net profit plummets 99% in Q4

Hyundai Engineering & Construction, Korea’s second-largest construction firm by sales, said Friday its net profit plunged 99 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier on foreign exchange losses.

Net profit for the three months ending Dec. 31 nosedived to 3.81 billion won ($3.58 million) from 272.59 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

“A sharp gain in the won against the dollar throughout last year resulted in hefty foreign exchange losses, among others,” the statement said.

The won rose 13 percent to 1,070 against the dollar from 1,207.7 won last year.

Operating profit fell 31 percent to 220.4 billion won in the fourth quarter from 318.72 billion won a year earlier. Sales declined 20 percent to 4.264 trillion won from 5.311 trillion won, it said.

Looking ahead, Hyundai E&C said it aims to achieve an operating profit of 1.1 trillion won on sales of 17.6 trillion won for all of 2018. It has set a goal of winning new orders worth 23.9 trillion won this year, up 10 percent from 21.7 trillion won a year ago.